Automatic liquid-releaser



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

K. P. PETERSON. AUTOMATIC LIQUID RELEASER.

No. 427,607. Patented May 13,1890.-

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

K. P. PETERSON.

AUTOMATIG LI UID RELBASBR.

No. 427,607. Patentd May 13,1890.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3..

K.F.PETERSON AUTOMATIC LIQUID RELBA$ER.

- No. 427.607. Patented May 13, 1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

KNUTE F. PETERSON, OF LAKE VIEIV, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, ANDCHARLES \V. CALD\VELL, OF IVATERLOO, IOWV A.

AUTOMATIC LIQUID- RELEASER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 427,607, dated May 13,1890. Application filed June 2'7, 1889. Serial No. 315,785. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, KNUTE F, PETERSON, residing at Lake View, in thecounty of (look and State of Illinois, and a citizen of the UnitedStates, have invented a new and useful Improvement in AutomaticLiquid-Releasers, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sectionthrough the inclosingease and water tank or chamber and an elevation ofthe operating devices. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the operating devicesbelow the water-tank, some of the parts being in section and one side ofthe frame being removed. Fig. 3 a front view of the operating devices.Fig. 4 is a front view of the box in which the coins are depositedthrough a slot in its side. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the same,showing the coin-slot and the hinged shutter for closing the same whenthe water in the tank has been exhausted. Fig. 6 is a section taken atline 6 6 of Fig. at.

This invention relates, primarily, to devices for automaticallyfurnishing a predetermined quantity of water or other liquid, and hasfor its objects to furnish a device adapted to be brought into operationby the weight of a coin that will be certain of operation at all times,and to provide means for preventing many foreign substances that may beinsorted in the coin-slot from descending sufficiently far to obstructor enter the coin tube or chute at the lower end of the coinboX, and toautomatically close the coin-slot sufficiently to prevent the insertionof a coin when the water in the tank has been exhausted, all of which Iaccomplish as illustrated in the drawings and hereinafter fullydescribed.

That which I claim as new will be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, A represents the inclosing-case.

15 is a water-tank located in the upper part of the case and suitablysecured to it. As shown, the tank is of less diameter than the insidediameter of the case, so that a space Ct is left between the case andthe tank. The

top of the tank is closed by asuitable cover Z).

O is a pipe, the upper end of which opens into the bottom of thewater-tank. As shown, the pipe is bent at some distance below thewater-tank and projects forw'ardly and downwardly and through the frontwall of the case A. A valve for controlling the flow of water is locatedin the pipe just above the bend. The means by which this Valve isoperated will be hereinafter described.

D is a metal frame located in the case A beneath the water-tank I3. Thisframe supports the operating devices.

E is a gearwheel mounted on a shaft ,0, supported in the frame I).

F is a drum on the shaft 0.

(Z is a rope, one end of which is secured to an upper rail of the frameD, and the other end is secured to the drum F, around which the rope iswound.

f is a weight, which is suspended from a pulley g, which is placed onthe rope (l, as shown.

G is another gear-wheel on a shaft h, which shaft is also supported inthe frame D.

t is a pinion on the shaft h, with which the gear-wheel E engages.

II is a cain secured on the shaft h.

I is a bell-crank lever pivoted at j to the frame D. On the lower end ofthis lever is a roller 70, which bears upon the periphery of the cam H.To the upper end of the lover I is attached a chain Z, the other end ofwhich chain is attached to the upper end of a lever m, which lever ispivoted at its lower end to a short arm or projection '72, formed withor attached to the pipe 0.

0 is a valve-stem, pivoted to the lever m a short distance above the arm'n.

J is a rod pivoted to one of the upper side pieces of the frame D, andextending at its go forward end under the coin tube or chute.

Its rear endis screw-threaded and is provided with a screw-threadedweight 1), which can be adjusted as required. A hook q is formed with orsecured to the rod J, which hook on- 5 gages alternately with pins orprojections 7' on the side of the wheel G and holds the parts from beingoperated until the rod J is tilted.

K is a flywheel which acts as a governor.

It is mounted on a shaft suitably secured in Ice the frame D. A pinionon the same shaft meshes with the wheel G.

L is a shelf or bracket secured to the case A below the projecting endof the pipe 0, such shelf being designed to hold a drinking glass orcup.

M is the box into which the coin that sets the'operating devices inmotion is to be placed. The coin is to be inserted through a slot 8 inone side of the'box M, and will slide upon an inclined shelf 2, locatedbeneath the slot. From this shelf it will fall upon another shelf u,inclined in the opposite direction, from which it will fall into anddescend through a tube or chute 7). At the bottom of this tube or chutethe coin will strike the end of the lever J and depress that end, whichwill raise the hook q out of engagement with one of the pins 0", and thewater-releasing mechanism will be set in motion by the action of theweight f.

The operation of the releasing mechanism is as follows: Suppose theparts to be in the position shown in Fig. 2. Now when the weight of acoin has depressed the front end of the rod J, and the hook g hasthereby been released from engagement with the pin "1', the weight f onthe rope (1 will act to rotate the drum F, which drum, being fast on theshaft 0, will cause the gear-wheel E to revol ve, which wheel E, meshingwith the pinion i, will revolve such pinion, and also the gear-wheel Gand cam H, which are both fast on the shaft 7t. As the cam H revolves itwill force the lower arm of the bell-crank lever upward and the upperarm of the lever backward, which, through the chain Z, will pull thelever m backward and pull out the valve-stem 0, opening the valve in thepipe 0, and allowing the water to flow through the pipe into the glassor cup on the shelf or bracket L. After a coin has fallen upon the endof the rod J such rod will turn sufficiently upon its pivot to cause thecoin to fall off, when the weight 19 on the other end of the rod willbring the rod back to its normal position in time for the hook q toengage with the pin 1 on the opposite side of the wheel G, suchengagement of the hook and pin necessarily causing a stoppage of themechanism until the rod J has been tilted by the weight of another coin.It will thus be seen that the gear-wheel G and cam H each make one-halfof a revolution every time that the rod J is tilted. The size of the camH, the pipe 0, and the Valve in the pipe are to be such that only thepredetermined quantity of water or other liquid will escape while thevalve is open. The valve is to be any ordinary valve in use which isadapted for the purpose. After the coin has fallen from the end of therod J it drops into areceptacle, the upper end of which is shown in Fig.2 and is indicated by w.

As shown, the front of the coin-box M is provided with a glass door,through which any foreign substances that may have been pushed throughthe slot 5 and have lodged on the inclined shelves can be seen. The doorcan then be opened by the proper person and such foreign substancesremoved. Access to the final coin-depository cannot, however, beobtained through such door.

Another feature of my invention consists in devices for automaticallyclosing the slot .9

sufficiently to prevent the insertion of another coin when'the liquid isabout exh austed,which I accomplish as illustrated in Fig. 2, in which Nrepresents a float of wood orother suitable material. To this float issecured one end of a cord O,which passes around a pulley 0c, and hassecured to its other end a weight P, placed in the space a between thewalls of the case A and water-tank B.

R is a shutter for closing or partially closing the slot 3. As shown,the lower portion of the shutter is nearly horizontal, while the v upperportion is curved; but I do not regard this shape as essential, as itmight be made of other shape. As shown, it is pivoted to the side of thebox IVI at 2 and projects through the case A into the space a above theweight P.

In use as the water is drawn off from the tank B the float N willdescend with the liquid and correspondingly raise the weight P until theliquid is almost exhausted,when the weight P will come in contact withthe shutter Rv and push it far enough over the slot 8 to prevent theinsertion of a coin.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is asfollows:

1. In an automatic liquid-rcleaser, the cornbination of the wheel G,suitable driving devices therefor, a coin-operated rod which holds saidwheel locked against rotation when the rod is in its normal position, avalve, and a cam for operating mechanism to open the valve,substantially as specified.

2. In an automatic liquid-releaser, the water-tank B and pipe 0, leadingtherefrom and provided with a valve, in combination with the wheel G andmechanism, substantially as shown, for driving such wheel G, the cam II,

KNUTE F. PETERSON.

Witnesses:

ALBERT I-I. ADAMS, HARRY T. Jonas.

